Broadcast TV Ratings for Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Fox takes another evening on the strength of American Idol. Lost’s return to primetime in a new timeslot is down from previous episodes, while Criminal Minds (now no longer facing Lost) was boosted by the Super Bowl push to be the nights highest rated and most watched scripted program among households and total viewers.

Fox finished in first place for the evening with an 11.9/18 household rating, 20.12 million total viewers and an 8.1/20 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

Households – 12.8/19 rating [#1]

Viewers – 22.01 million [#1]

Adults 18-49 – 8.8/22 rating [#1]

8:00 p.m.: Bones (8.0/12 HH rating, 12.64M viewers, 4.4/12 A18-49) continues to benefit leading into American Idol. After its first week last Wednesday, it managed to hold onto all of its prior audience, and actually tick up some slightly across the board.

CBS followed in second place for the evening with a 9.4/14 household rating, 14.27 million total viewers and a 4.3/10 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

Households -6.4/10 rating [#2]

Viewers -9.62 million [#2]

Adults 18-49 -2.8/7 rating [#3]

8:00 p.m.: A repeat of part one of the Super Bowl episode, Criminal Minds (7.0/11 HH rating, 10.27M viewers, 2.8/8 A18-49 rating) did very well leading into a new episode.

9:00 p.m.: The second part of the Super Bowl episode of Criminal Minds (11.0/16 HH rating, 17.23M viewers, 5.1/12 A18-49 rating) managed to increase its audience 4.24M viewers, 33% among households and 55% among adults 18-49 from its last newly aired episode.

Episode-to-episode numbers (2/4/2007):

Households – 15.1/26 to 11.0/16

Viewers – 26.31M to 17.23M

Adults 18-49 – 10.0/25 to 5.1/12

Episode-to-episode numbers (1/17/2007):

Households – 8.3/12 to 11.0/16

Viewers – 12.99M to 17.23M

Adults 18-49 – 3.3/8 to 5.1/12

So, just how does this all compare to the post-Super Bowl boost of Grey’s Anatomy? Check out the numbers below. The post-Super Bowl episode of Grey’s Anatomy averaged 25.42M viewers, a 15.5/24 household rating and an 11.3/25 A18-49 rating. Retention from the Super Bowl episode was 74% among households (from a 21.0 rating), 67% among total viewers (from 37.88M) and 68% among adults 18-49 (from a 16.5 rating). Retention from the Super Bowl episode for Criminal Minds was 73% among households, 65% among viewers and 51% among adults 18-49. So on average, Grey’s Anatomy performed about 7% better across the key categories, most impressively among adults 18-49, where it held onto 17% more of its Super Bowl audience than Criminal Minds. So score this one for Grey’s (as you can see, overall numbers were much higher as well), but Criminal Minds has certainly benefited by the push. It seems to have no problem going up against American Idol anymore.

10:00 p.m.: In the first week airing against Lost, CSI: NY (10.2/16 HH rating, 15.78M viewers, 4.9/12 A18-49 rating) managed to come out on top among households and viewers, but was second to Lost among adults 18-49. This is a very strong performance for the show, especially considering it did not lose any audience from its last newly aired episode (though it must be said that the previous episode was lower rated than normal). Still though, good news overall for CBS on this evening. They were a very solid second for the night.

Episode-to-episode numbers (1/24/2007):

Households – 8.9/15 to 10.2/16

Viewers – 13.35M to 15.78M

Adults 18-49 – 3.8/10 to 4.9/12

ABC finished in third place for the evening with a 6.1/9 household rating, 9.95 million total viewers and a 4.2/10 rating among adults 18-49.

9:00 p.m.: A Lost special, Lost Survivor Guide (5.6/8 HH rating, 9.06M viewers, 3.7/8 A18-49 rating) performed much better than the timeslot’s previous occupants (which will return next week). Growing 3.90M viewers, 75% among households and 85% among adults 18-49 week-to-week, as it led into the returning Lost.

Week-to-week numbers: (vs. According to Jim & In Case of Emergency)

Households – 3.2/5 to 5.6/8

Viewers – 5.16M to 9.06M

Adults 18-49 – 2.0/4 to 3.7/8

10:00 p.m.: The return of Lost (8.5/14 HH rating, 14.68M viewers, 6.5/16 A18-49 rating), which was on hiatus for three months, took over a new timeslot and did not perform as strongly as its current season average . It still was able to take a first place finish for the hour among adults 18-49 (finishing second among households and viewers to CSI: NY). The bright spot was while the series was down 2.47M viewers and 17% among households from its last newly aired episode, it still did very strong among adults 18-49, dipping only 7%. It also managed to increase it’s audience in it’s second half-hour (going from a 6.4 A18-49 rating to a 6.7 and from 14.50M viewers to 14.86M).

Episode-to-episode numbers: (11/8/2006)

Households – 10.3/15 to 8.5/14

Viewers – 17.15M to 14.68M

Adults 18-49 – 7.0/11 to 6.5/16

NBC followed in fourth place for the evening with a 5.4/8 household rating and 8.15 million total viewers, and a 2.6/6 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

Households – 6.1/9 rating [#3]

Viewers – 9.37 million [#3]

A18-49 – 3.0/8 rating [#2]

8:00 p.m.: Friday Night Lights (4.4/7 HH rating, 6.56M viewers, 2.4/6 A18-49 rating) was unable to gain any ground week-to-week, but at the same time, the show is still remaining steady.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 4.5/7 to 4.4/7

Viewers – 6.86M to 6.56M

Adults 18-49 – 2.5/7 to 2.4/6

9:00 p.m.: Deal or No Deal (6.4/9 HH rating, 9.63M viewers, 2.6/6 A18-49 rating), though growing from its lead-in, hit season low levels as it dipped 1.79M viewers, 11% among households and 16% among adults 18-49. Most signficant of course is the A18-49 number, only a 0.2 point gain from Friday Night Lights.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 7.2/11 to 6.4/9

Viewers – 11.42M to 9.63M

Adults 18-49 – 3.1/8 to 2.6/6

10:00 p.m.: Going against Lost and CSI: NY proved to be too much for Medium (5.4/8 HH rating, 8.28M viewers, 2.9/7 A18-49 rating) which hit season lows. It’ll be interesting to see how things change in future weeks. Medium had been slowly climbing and finding a decent audience in its new timeslot.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 6.6/11 to 5.4/8

Viewers – 9.83M to 8.28M

Adults 18-49 – 3.5/9 to 2.9/7

The CW finished in fifth place with a 2.4/4 household rating, 3.62 million total viewers and a 1.7/4 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

Households – 1.9/3 rating [#5]

Viewers – 2.82 million [#5]

Adults 18-49 – 1.4/3 rating [#5]

8:00 p.m.: Beauty and the Geek (2.8/4 HH rating, 4.39M viewers, 2.1/5 A18-49 rating) continues to find new viewers as it no longer airs against American Idol. The series provided a nice spark for the network, growing 8% week-to-week.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 2.6/4 to 2.8/4

Viewers – 4.07M to 4.39M

Adults 18-49 – 2.1/5 to 2.1/5

9:00 p.m.: One Tree Hill (1.8/3 HH rating, 2.85M viewers, 1.3/3 A18-49 rating), while still below average in ratings terms, managed to return to much stronger ratings than where it left off.

Episode-to-episode numbers (1/24/2007)

Households – 1.6/2 to 2.0/3

Viewers – 2.23M to 2.85M

Adults 18-49 – 1.0/2 to 1.3/3

Note: Fast National are used when comparing week-to-week numbers, while Final Nationals are used when comparing year-to-year/episode-to-episode numbers, unless otherwise noted.